Folk Toys - What are they?

I was recently contacted by an American gentleman who was making enquiries about British 'Folk Toys'. I'd honestly never heard this phrase before and was surprised to learn he meant traditional toys!

However I was fascinated by the term 'Folk Toys' and did a little research. This term dates back to the early part of the 20th century when children would fashion their own toys from wood due to the high cost and generally scarcity of retail toys. They would gather in gangs and make classic toys such as yo-yo's, marble shooters and Jacobs ladders many of which had complex mechanical parts. These hand made playthings slowly disappeared following WWII with the arrival of cheap mass produced toys, the rising standard of living and changes in children's attitudes towards 'home-made' items.

These is however a growing underground, particularly in the USA, of people with little cottage industries producing these wonderful toys by hand and keeping these wonderful toys on the market and not just in the museums.

Thankfully traditional children's folk toys have never really disappeared in the UK and are once again rising in popularity due to a general backlash against soulless plastic and electronic toys. It's good to know that this wonderful trend is being reflected across the Atlantic and with any luck we might see some of these American traditional toys in the UK soon!